<p>At the end of a line, a word is separated in writing into parts conventionally called <q>syllables</q> if it does not fit and if moving it to the next line would make the first line much shorter than the others. This can be a particular problem with very long words. Word processing has automated the process of justification, making syllabification of shorter words often superfluous.</p>
<p>In some languages, the spoken syllables are also the basis of syllabification in writing. However, possibly due to the weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the spelling of modern English, written syllabification in English is based mostly on etymological or morphological instead of phonetic principles. For example, it is not possible to syllabify <q>learning</q> as lear-ning according to the correct syllabification of the living language. Seeing only lear- at the end of a line might mislead the reader into pronouncing the word incorrectly, as the digraph ea can hold many different values. The history of English orthography accounts for such phenomena.</p>
<p class="right small">(English <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabification">Wikipedia</a> on syllabification)</p>
